Pride Parade
,The Black & White Party and Community Day Were Among
August's Highlights
Gay Pride Celebration Weekend was held on August 15 & 16
in Montreal. We at African Rainbow aimed to step up hard
that weekend, and we totally did!
On Saturday the
15th, it was Community Day on Sainte-Catherine street,
and African Rainbow ran a kiosk where a dozen members
had volunteered to ensure continuous presence throughout
the day. These members were able to spread the word
about African Rainbow, its mission, its agenda and
activities, by talking to more than 500 passersby and by
distributing to them our brand new business cards - with
Afro-Caribbean beats in the air. They also managed to
promote the Black & White Party and conduct a fundraiser
by selling t-shirts bearing the organization’s logo.
Like this one? Write us at
info@arcencieldafrique.org.
On the 16th, AR
made Montreal’s history as being the very first large
organization with African and West Indian LGBT’s – all
out and proud - to take part in Pride Parade, which
Fiesta! was the theme. « Last year I thought to myself:
African Rainbow will parade in 2009... and we were only
three at the time! », said Vice-President Fabrice Nguena.
And shocker: more than thirty people walked behind the
organization’s banner, proudly holding flags of various
countries in Africa and the Americas. Guys and gals, old
and young, people from all walks of life marched and
sent hot vibes to the crowd on René-Lévesque. Some folks
on the sidewalk even joined the walk! Take a look at
photos from these events on our Facebook.
Later on,
African Rainbow’s annual fundraiser took place at Alizé
Bar with «Black & White» as the theme. This
one-of-a-kind event – that is, an Afro-Caribbean LGBT
party – has pulled over 150 people who were working
their tails off with no restraint to Zouk, Reggae, Kompa,
Soukous and Hip Hop, all mixed by DJ Klass in a
prejudice-and-bull-free atmosphere. From the ATL to the
TO, and from NYC to Montreal, numerous cities were
thrown up that evening! For those of you who could not
show up, you missed one of the best but not the last
gathering. See you all next summer.
To those great
moments we’ve lived together, to ourselves and to our
future – congrats. To all those who participated in
Community Day, who showed their support and marched with
us, to everyone out there who heard about us through the
media, to those who made the Black & White Party a huge
success and to all those who keep sending us feedback
and love, we say BRAVO. United we Stand.
At
the same time, our member, Carlos Idibouo, made a
visit at MIEL Quebec, an HIV/AIDS organisation based
in Quebec city, where he explaned the work of
African Rainbow. "We want to create a partenarship
with you guys so that we can serve better our both
members" said Carlos to the gathering where the
ministry of hearth was attending. The reaction of
MIEL Quebec to the demand was positive. We look
forward to matelise that partenarship during the
coming year
